LETTERPRESS FAITHFUL GET FEWER

April 2002

multipage

Though UV flexo threatens widespread letterpress longevity, suppliers and printers insist it will survive.

by Jessica Millward, Associate Editor

JUST HOW FAR along is the industry's migration from letterpress? And will UV flexo-fondness lead to the complete disappearance of the letterpress label? In an informal poll conducted on the pP Web site, while many respondents predicted letterpress would be phased out within ten years, a majority believed the process would always be in use.

For Ko-Pack International customers, the primary letterpress investment has been additional equipment for capacity, notes Sales Director Gerry Nigg. He believes letterpress presses will benefit from incorporation of wide-web technology into narrow-web machinery, such as the integration of a water-cooled CID drum on a rotary letterpress.

Letterpress won't ever be completely abandoned, Nigg asserts, because in many cases, "It's a matter of printers asking, 'Why reinvent the wheel?'" The complete elimination of letterpress means more than just new presses, it means adopting a new mind set, and training all company employees to adopt that mind set as well.

Ko-Pack encourages printers to bring back older presses for fine-tuning; the company offers re-building of print heads with micro-adjustment capability on ink keys. Nigg adds the micro-adjustment feature reduces spoilage and set-up time.

"For high quality printing and specific color matching, letterpress is still typically faster in set-up and waste reduction time, due to fine-tuning capabilities offered by ink keys, and the ability to adjust colors quickly versus making new plates, and changing anilox rolls and ink," maintains Gallus Sales Manager Bob Yates. He is also mindful of the time/money investment required to turnover one process for another. Of additional concern in considering a print method change, Yates notes, is the need to support two different platemaking systems, numerous inventories of inks, and artwork variations required for both processes in the learning-curve interim.

However, Yates feels growth in UV flexo, rotary screen, and hot foil stamping combinations will continue at a good pace. Portability of these functions enables the printer to completely reconfigure the press to match customer needs. He summarizes, "There will be continued overlapping of the various printing processes used as applications change and improvements are made, but today, and in the future, all printing processes will be required."

Shifting mind set

Founded 25 years ago, Ontario-based Labelad has grown to become one of North America's largest pressure-sensitive label converters. Sales of Labelad prime labels are divided almost evenly between the United States and Canada, and the company's headquarters in Markham also house sister division Sandylion, a leading designer, manufacturer, and distributor of novelty stickers and related products. The two divisions employ more than 23 printing presses, from the likes of Comco, Gallus, and Mark Andy.

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